Friday, December 07, 2012

Best of 2012

I'm honored to be included among this year's contributors to photo-eye's annual Best of 2012 list. I've included my selections below, along with a few extras. Read the rest of the selections by Martin Parr, Aaron Schuman, John Gossage, Alec Soth, Natasha Egan and many more here.

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Lebbensmittel by Michael Schmidt (Snoeck)
A massive tome by one of our best contemporary photographers, Lebbensmittel tackles the thorny complexities of our modern industrialized food complex.

Another Language by Mårten Lange (MACK)
Full of curiosity, romantic longing and mystical reverie, Lange’s book resembles a children’s alphabet book as reimagined by Minor White and E.O. Wilson.
(Read my review in the Dec./Jan. issue of The Brooklyn Railhere)

Two Thousand Light Years From Home by Pietro Mattoli (Kodoji Press)
Stalking his neighborhood at night, Mattoli reveals the strange details that surround us in the darkness. Flashes of light reveal such sweet prey.

Dive Dark Dream Slow by Melissa Cantanese (Ice Plant)
A haunting and poetic daydream, Cantanese’s book joins company with a growing listing of smartly edited books of vernacular photography.

The Actor by John Gossage (Loosestrife Editions)
Thievery never looked so good or so wry as in this resurrected body of work by Gossage. (Read my review here)

Handbook to the Stars by Peter Puklus (Self)
A perplexing book whose free-floating and daring design suggests either a scrolling website or a carefully curated studio wall, Puklus’ Handbook to the Stars mixes oddly constructed still-lives with sharply observed details.

Building by Barney Kulok (Aperture)
A poem in concrete, brick and rebar dedicated to the late great Louis Kahn.

Lick Creek Line by Ron Jude (MACK)
Jude’s work asks provocative questions about the relationship between photographs, personal experience and knowledge, as well as our persistent desire to understand images in spite of their maddeningly murky nature.
(Read my review here)Looking For Love, 1996 by Alec Soth (Kominek)
First love was never so sweet.

The Present by Paul Graham (MACK)
The restless and protean Graham takes to the streets of New York City and pushes the grammar of photography to new places.
(Read my review here)Fractures and Other Injuries by Ofer Wolberger (Horses Think)
The 10th book in Wolberger's book series is a strange and haunting exploration of injury and the lengths we go to fix what is broken.

Kodachromeby Luigi Ghirri (MACK)
A long out-of-print classic by the master photographer and pioneer of color photography beautifully reprinted and brought back to life.

Mountain Shadow Placeby Nicholas Muellner (A-Jump)
A seemingly simple story about pictures shrouded in fog.Good Mother and Father by Sacha Maric (Self)
As a new father myself, I quickly warmed me to this delightful and slightly unsettling little book.

Welcome to Springfield by Michael Abrams (Loosestrife)
Shifting through private and collective memories, Abrams reveals the mundane reality and repressed fantasies at the heart of a prototypical American town.
(Read my review here)

Elementary Calculus by J Carrier (MACK)
J Carrier's new book explores the unseen and unspoken consequences of
migration, exile and displacement with intelligence and
sophistication.
(Read my review here)

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Author

Adam Bell is a photographer and writer. His work has been widely exhibited, and his essays and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, including Afterimage, Aperture, The Art Book Review, The Photobook Review, The Brooklyn Rail, fototazo, Foam Magazine, Lay Flat, photo-eye and Paper Journal. His books include Vision Anew: The Lens and Screen Arts and The Education of a Photographer. He is currently on staff and faculty at the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department at the School of Visual Arts.